Tanker 00 drops on the Last Chance fire; photo by Joel Arnwine
A 29-year-old man faces up to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of leaving a fire unattended in the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico in April. Rodrigo Ulloa-Esquivel of El Paso admitted that he lit toilet paper on fire after relieving himself. He explained that he did not want to leave litter behind. The Last Chance fire burned 53,342 acres.
Fires started by campers burning toilet paper is not as uncommon as you may think. I recall one or possibly two fires that were started this way by volunteers in Anza Borrego Desert State Park in California during the annual Bighorn Sheep Count.
My first fire as a permanent fire employee for the Forest Service was a toilet paper fire. That was on the Inyo NF in 1979. The fire was located up George Creek Canyon on the Mt. Whitney District in May of 1979. It was started by a USGS employee. These types of fires have been occuring seems like forever.
Narrows Fire, Angeles National Forest, 1997
18,000+ acres
Cause: Burning toilet paper
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1997/Aug-24-Sun-1997/news/5941177.html
The Narrows Fire in the Angeles NF in 1997 became known as the Charmin Fire. It was the one featured on Nat’l Geo Explorer, when they where following Wild Bill in T-25.
“Wild” Bill.. http://wildfiretube.com/videos/102/bill-waldman-interview
makes me proud
Here’s a link you might enjoy:
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/multimedia/fire-bombers/?ar_a=1&ar_r=1
Excellent video. Thanks!
We had the same scenario at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge a few years back. I wish Wilderness advocates would quit teaching folks this as “wilderness ethics”.